Jurado was known for her flamboyant singing style

The Andalusian star, whose career spanned four decades, died at her home in Madrid at the age of 61.

Jurado was celebrated in Spain and Latin America for her dramatic looks and passionate voice.

Thousands in Madrid are expected to pay their final respects to the singer who was known as "la mas grande de Espana" (Spain's greatest) on Thursday.

Her brother Amador Mohedano said his sister died in the early hours of the morning "surrounded by her own, calm and without worries".

Spain's Deputy Prime Minister Maria Teresa Fernandez de la Vega said the country was mourning the loss of "a person who was so valuable, so beloved, so respected and so important for the popular culture of our country".

International appeal

Born in southern Spain in September 1944, Jurado started her career singing flamenco and moved into film in the 1960s.

Over the years, she built a huge following in Spain and Latin America.

She made more than 30 albums in the course of her career, appearing in concert on both sides of the Atlantic, and starred in several films.

Well known for her singing style, blending flamenco with folk and romantic ballads, she was recently hailed by the Spanish government as "one of the best voices in our country".

Jurado was diagnosed with cancer in 2004. She returned to Spain in late March after two months of cancer treatment in Houston, Texas.

Madrid's mayor, Alberto Ruiz-Gallardon, told EFE news agency a street in the city would be named in homage to her.

Jurado is survived by her husband, bullfighter Jose Ortega Cano, their two adoptive children and daughter Rocio - by her first marriage to boxer Pedro Carrasco.

The singer will be buried in her home town of Chipiona, in the province of Cadiz.